Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem on trip to Moscow

(Pravoslavie.ru) - His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem has arrived in Moscow for his official visit. The program of the visit of the head of the Church of Jerusalem includes: celebrations of the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture, visits to the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, and holy places of St. Petersburg and Valaam Monastery. His Beatitude Patriarch of the holy city of Jerusalem and all Palestine was ceremoniously met at Vnukovo airport. In the evening the delegations of the Jerusalem and the Russian Orthodox Churches will hold discussions in the throne room of the Patriarchal residence, reports Sinfo.

On May 24, in the morning, in the Patriarchal Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, his Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem and his Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia will serve a Divine Liturgy after which the Cross procession will proceed from the Church of the Theophany to Slavyanskaya square, where the heads of the Russian and the Jerusalem Orthodox Churches will hold a solemn prayer service at the monument of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Equals-to-the-Apostles.

Patriarch Theophilus’s participation in celebrations of the Day of the Slavic Writing and Culture is a continuation of the tradition of inviting heads of local Orthodox Churches to this holiday. His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople took part in the celebrations of 2010. A delegation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople takes part in these celebrations annually, and this year it is headed by Bishop Kyrillos of Abydos. On the same day, Patriarch Theophilus will visit the holiday concert, "Our Favorite Songs", in the evening on Red Square in Moscow, which open to all.

On May 25, 2013, on the 100th-year anniversary of canonization of Holy Patriarch Hermogenes, his Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia and his Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem will bless a newly-erected monument to St. Hermogenes in the Alexandеr Garden near the Kremlin walls. St. Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia from 1606–1612, inspired the popular uprising that put an end to the Time of Troubles in Russia. The Polish Catholic rulers who martyred St. Hermoges for his steadfastness in the Orthodox faith were finally expelled.

On May 27, the head of the Church of Jerusalem will come to St. Petersburg where he will take part in blessing of the St Nicholas naval Cathedral in the town of Kronstadt; during the following days he will be visiting Churches of St. Petersburg, the St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and will also make a pilgrimage to the Valaam Monastery.